Mr Davey has rejected those claims and said that the plant is needed to “keep the lights on”.

EDF has committed to building the first two new nuclear stations in Somerset and Suffolk with Centrica

“This power station won’t start generating until 2023, and that’s when it will start touching consumer bills – in ten years’ time,” Mr Davey told the BBC. “We’ve got to make these investments though, because two-thirds, nearly two-thirds of our electricity-generating capacity is going offline over the next 15 years so we’ve got to replace it, we’ve got to replace eight out of nine of our nuclear power stations and almost all our coal power stations.

“So if people at home want to be able to keep watching the television, be able to turn the kettle on and benefit from electricity, we’ve got to make these investments. It’s essential to keep the lights on and to power British business.”

Prime Minister David Cameron meets workers in the Charge Hall at Hinkley Point B in Somerset (PA)

Ministers have agreed with EDF, after more than two years of negotiations, that the French company will be guaranteed a “strike price” of £92.50 for every megawatt hour of power produced by the Somerset plant for 35 years.

But a flexible price has been established that could see a lower strike price for energy from Hinkley of £89.50 if the EDF consortium pushes ahead with plans to build another nuclear plant at Sizewell in Suffolk.

Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear power station to be built since Sizewell B, which started generating electricity in 1995.

David Cameron examines site plans for the new Hinkly C nuclear power station (AFP/Getty Images)

The Government has said building a new fleet of nuclear power stations could reduce bills by more than £75 a year in 2030.

Around 25,000 jobs are expected to be created during construction of the power plant as well as 900 permanent jobs during its 60-year operation.

One analysis by investment firm CF Partners suggests it could add another £8 a year to bills.

However, Mr Davey insisted that the plant will be a good deal for the taxpayer.

“This is a very good price,” Mr Davey added. Let’s be clear – it won’t be touching consumers’ bills until 2023, not for ten years so people haven’t got to worry about this having any impact in the short term.

The charge hall inside EDF Energy's Hinkley Point B nuclear power station (Reuters)

But when we get to 2023, we’ll be in a very different energy world.

“It’s very likely that energy price rises that we’ve seen over recent years – gas prices – that gas will go up. So if we rely on gas and existing sources, we will be really in trouble.

“By making this sort of investment, actually, we’re making sure we don’t put all our eggs in one basket, we’re making sure we’ve got a mixed energy system with not just gas, but replacing our nuclear power stations and building the renewables as well. We’re going to need all the low-carbon electricity in the future because the carbon prices are going to go up.”

Mr Davey added: “So in order to protect consumers and protect the British economy from high energy prices in the next decade, we’ve got to make these investments now. But consumers are protected now because they won’t have to pay for this.”